[Source: BBC]

Marcus Rashford says he feels like he is “at home” at Barcelona after completing a season-long loan move to the La Liga club.

The 27-year-old has joined on an initial 12-month loan from Manchester United, with the Catalan giants having the option of signing the England international on a permanent basis for £30.3m (35m euros) in 2026.

He is the first English player to sign for Barcelona, who won the league and cup double last season, since Gary Lineker in 1986.

Rashford hasn’t played for Manchester United, his boyhood club, since last December after being dropped by manager Ruben Amorin, and spent the second half of the 2024-25 season on loan at Aston Villa.

In July, it was confirmed that he was one of five players to tell the club that he wanted to leave.

“I’m very excited,” Rashford told Barcelona’s YouTube channel. “It’s a club where people’s dreams come true, they win big prizes.

“What the club stands for means a lot for me. I feel like I’m at home and a big factor in my choice to come here is because it is a family place and a good place for good players to showcase their skills.

“Another factor is because the conversations I had with [Hansi Flick] were positive. What he did last season was terrific. To lead such a young team to a very successful season and come back to pre-season and still want to do more, it shows me everything I thought I knew about the club and it’s everything I wished.

“I’m eager to learn the Barcelona way.”

Barcelona will cover the entirety of Rashford’s wages during his time at the club after the forward agreed to take a pay cut.

Removing Rashford from the wage bill is expected to save United between £14-£15m over the next 12 months.

The England international trained with his new team-mates for the first time on Tuesday and is expected to be included in the squad that travels to Japan for a pre-season tour of Asia on Thursday.

The move sees the forward leave the Premier League for the first time in his career.

Rashford has scored 138 goals in 426 matches for Manchester United since making his debut for the club in 2016 and won five major trophies.

He is 15th on the club’s all-time scorers list, having emerged from United’s academy.

Stream the best of Fiji on VITI+. Anytime. Anywhere.